Hailed as the 'Father of E-commerce' in India, K Vaitheeswaran recently shared an unpleasant experience from the times he was also working as an umpire. The man behind the book - Failing to Succeed – has revealed how difficult and challenging a job being an umpire can be. Vaitheeswaran took to social media to share an old but real story from almost four decades ago. The incident goes back to his time as a registered umpire for Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).
Vaitheeswaran revealed that he used to play corporate cricket but couldn't continue it once he shifted to Bangalore for a career move. However, for him, watching the match replays on his television was not enough. So, he decided to sit for the written and verbal tests by KSCA to be an umpire. And it shouldn't be a surprise that he did clear those. From lower-level league, inter-city to internationals, he was a registered umpire. He recalled the times he was even abused during a match by the players over an LBW.
Then, one time, on a Sunday, he and one other umpire were called to inspect the ground and declare whether it was playable. On reaching the ground, he met Shrinivas, his co-umpire. Shrinivas had already taken a look at the muddy stadium and forwarded the duly filled form to Vaitheeswaran to sign. Shrinivas even urged him to sign it fast.
The other side to the story
Vaitheeswaran asked him the reason behind the urgency and another person (marker) told him the story. "Shrinivas was the sole bread winner in his family with aged parents and younger siblings. He did several odd jobs and cricket umpiring was one such job for him. While he was keen on the game, the meagre amount paid to umpires per game by KSCA was an added income stream. I now turned to Shrinivas who was looking very embarrassed. He explained to me that he had to rush the signed form to KSCA office and request a cheque which he could clear from the bank before closing hours. They had some urgent family expenses."
And he quit
Vaitheeswaran added that he never felt the need to withdraw whatever little he was making for being an umpire. He went home and told his wife the story. He said that his wife asked him to stop umpiring as it was preventing someone who could really use the money from doing so. With the intelligence typical of wives, she told me to stop umpiring because every time I drove to the ground in a car to umpire a game because of some passion, I was stopping another Shrinivas from earning really useful money.
"Some careers are not meant to take off and you feel disappointed. Not this one though. I never met Shrinivas again. Not sure why but today I just thought of him. I hope he and his folks are doing well. God Bless," he concluded.
